Keep Your Friends Close
by Thorned Rose
Summary: ...But Your Enemies Closer. Is it right to follow your heart, if you know your friends will resent you for it? Or if you're afraid of what could happen to the one you love if you do? Or what you could do to them...
1. Potions And Parchment

                                Keep your friends close… 

       She knew something was amiss the second she woke up, and after rubbing away the sleepiness from her weary brown eyes, she felt sick to the pit of her stomach when she realised what it was that was wrong. For the first time in her life, sixth year student Hermione Granger had overslept for her classes and her Muggle-invented alarm clock had failed her. She didn't know if it was due to the intriguing dream she had that made her sleep through it, but no matter what the source of her problems were, there was no denying the trouble she'd be in when she eventually reached her designated classroom. She mentally kicked herself as she threw on her robes and gathered her books, and she wondered why she had failed to wake up on the one morning that started with double potions. As the House she belonged to was Griffindor, and not Severus Snape's own house, Slytherin, she knew that he would be eager to punish her even if she arrived early with a week's worth of homework completed in advance. Her thoughts were so diluted with worry that she forgot to jump the disappearing step and she felt as if her day couldn't get any worse when she saw her belongings flying out of her arms ahead of her, and she shut her eyes as she knew the pain would come when she landed at the foot of the stone steps. Except the strange thing was, she never did.

      _"Impedimenta!"_

      When she opened her eyes, she realised was that she was still suspended in the air, and the objects that had been falling out of her arms were still a few inches in front of her. It took her a few moments to realise that she should be on the ground at this point, and when she blinked the shock away she noticed that someone was straightening her body before chanting the counter curse to remove the paralysis that they had momentarily delivered to prevent her from falling. She staggered back against the banister and closed her eyes to regain her equilibrium as her saviour picked up her belongings, and she was just about to thank the stranger when she realised that she didn't know who it was. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see that it was none other than Draco Malfoy giving her the objects back. Her words of gratitude became stuck in her throat and once the initial shock had disappeared, she snatched her belongings from him and demanded to know what he thought he was playing at. Her tone caught him off his guard, and he replied that he had only tried to stop her to save her from a trip to Madame Pomfrey before she had even gone to her first class of the day.

      "I'd rather be in the hospital wing than having to accept help from someone like you"

      "So it is true then. Mudbloods have no manners"

      "Take it back"

      "Why should you be so worried with what I think of you? How often have I heard you degrade me in front of Potter and his fan club?"

      "You deserve it"

      "So I was given the right to be insulted above everyone else. It'll be a long time until I do anything to help you again"

      And with those last few words, his eyes seemed to pierce her very soul, and she seemed in a trance as she watched his robes flowing behind him as he walked briskly down the steps to the dungeon. She shook the feeling away and entered the dungeon behind him, apologising to Snape for her late entrance, even though Malfoy didn't bother with an apology _or_ with a reason. Draco quickly regretted not saying anything as he sat in his place, as to humiliate Hermione, the sallow-faced professor said:

      "Twenty points will be taken from you Miss Granger, for loitering around with your boyfriend on my class time. I suggest you sit down before you make it fifty, and both of you will be serving detention tonight. The rest of the class should now add five hundred grams of crushed werewolf fang to the cauldron"

      Hermione felt ill as she worked with Ron as she had never been late for a class before, and now she had to serve a detention because of it. She glanced across towards Draco and noticed that he seemed to be attempting to work alone whilst Crabbe and Goyle laughed in a troll-like manner to themselves. She felt angry that he had held her up—she would have made it inside the dungeon faster if she had fallen freely down the steps—but there was something about the attitude he had used when he had helped her that surprised her; his reaction when he had called her a Mudblood was almost apologetic, and she got the impression that it wasn't what he had intended saying to her. She sighed as she took out her pestle and mortar and ground the fangs until she was ready to add them. Maybe it was just her imagination, but perhaps Snape was using werewolf fang in this lesson to exact the revenge he could never have when he found out about Professor Lupin's secret. By the end of the class, she was in a positively bad humour.

      She was just about to leave the class when she heard the professor calling both her and Malfoy back for a moment, and after the humiliation that he had put them through during the double class, neither of them were willing to speak out of turn. They were told to meet him at the library at ten o' clock that night, and once they knew their time and location, they both hurried to their common rooms, but they walked noticeably apart when they were walking alongside the same stretch of corridor. She sighed to herself once she was left to walk back alone, wishing that she could have woken up at the normal time, if only to avoid being insulted before being given detention. At least she had pleasant professors for the remaining subjects throughout the day, and she even found Care For Magical Creatures class enjoyable when they were feeding and walking large worm-like creatures called Gretches, and they had tough skin and **very** sharp teeth. One thing she sensed was that whenever she had her back to him, Malfoy's two eyes were following her. Whenever she did turn around, she saw that he was talking to his friends again, which left her wondering whether or not she had imagined the whole thing.

      With all of her assignments completed, Hermione was at ease when she began to walk towards the library at a quarter to ten, to ensure that she wasn't late for Snape again. She saw Malfoy's silhouette by the entrance to the library, indicating that the professor hadn't arrived yet, and she felt awkward when the youth refused to make eye contact with her. She could tell that something was troubling him, but she was almost afraid to ask him if she could help, not only because of their argument that morning, but he probably didn't think that she was close enough to even consider telling her anything to do with is personal life anyway. They both acted attentively when they heard Snape's robes _swoosh_ along the corridor in their direction, and he silently opened the library door for them to enter first. He nodded at Madam Pince for her to leave them alone for the duration of the detention and she wandered back to the Restricted Section to put the books back in their correct places. He handed both of them a large book each as he explained their punishment: to transcribe three hundred pages before they were allowed to leave without taking any shortcuts, and he smiled vindictively upon seeing the look of genuine horror on their faces. He also took the pleasure of reminding them that it was a Friday night, and that they could stay there for the whole weekend it was necessary. Draco deliberately sat at the opposite end of the library to Hermione in case she struck up another argument with him—something he didn't want right now due to his troubled mind.

      It was nearing three o' clock by the time they were finished as they had been fortunate enough to get books with a number of large pictures dappling the dusty pages. Snape seemed almost impressed that they had it done, but it didn't stop him from burning the pages in front of the aghast students, telling them to get to their dormitories before he found another reason to give them detention. The pair left silently as they heard the key turning in the lock, and when they were on the corridor where they needed to go in separate directions, Draco turned to Hermione and said something to her for the first time since double Potions that morning. He extended his hand, similar in manner to how he had done to Harry on the train to Hogwarts for the first time in first year, and he whispered:

      "You're no Mudblood Granger, and I apologise for calling you one earlier. I've had some…problems…recently that's been clouding my thoughts, and I want you to know that I didn't mean it"

      "Thanks Draco, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that either. I'm grateful that you were there this morning, even if it meant you had to serve a boring detention for five hours"

      "Any time. Besides, it wasn't a total loss"

      He leaned down slightly and kissed her on her cheek before whispering goodnight and turning to go down the corridor to the Slytherin tower. Although it was belated, he heard her calling goodnight to him, and it was only when he was out of her vision that Hermione realised something: Draco had left something in her hand when she had shaken it, and it turned out to be a page from the book he had been transliterating earlier, and it caused her eyes to widen in shock when she read what it said. The page looked as though someone had written the book a few centuries ago, and there was no evidence that he had tampered with it with his wand. She gasped whilst she re-read it, knowing that it must be true, but the question remained: why had he been decent enough to give it to her? It was only when she heard Argus Filch shuffling about in the distance that she remembered she was still a student out of bed without permission. She turned on her heel and sped towards Griffindor and called out the password before Mrs Norris could catch her, still in disbelief at what the parchment had said…


	2. Midnight Meeting

                                Keep your friends close… 

      Hermione yawned whilst rubbing her eyes to wake herself up, and she realised that she had slept through half an hour that she should have spent studying. But then again, she realised that it wouldn't have been worthwhile anyway since her mind was still swamped with thoughts regarding her detention, and the parchment **he** had given her. After reading through it again, she allowed her mind to wander back to when he had kissed her on the cheek—was it a sign of peace, or something more? Was it worth having these thoughts about a supposed enemy, and if not why was she left with so many questions about him? There was no doubting that his mind had been preoccupied lately, and she wondered what his attitude would be like today, and if he'd be the same decent person she'd met the night before. She groaned as she dragged herself out of bed and got dressed; she was feeling severely deprived of sleep and she could honestly say that she didn't feel like studying at all that morning. She folded the parchment carefully before pocketing it as she was going to attempt isolating Draco for long enough for him to explain why he had given it to her. She rubbed her eyes one final time and gathered her books to study by the warmth from the fire in the common room, and she noticed her two closest friends playing Wizard's Chess in the corner. She called out a greeting to them but they were so absorbed in the game that they didn't hear her, so she dejectedly sat down on her own to commence studying for her Christmas exams that would take place in less than five weeks. She couldn't bring herself to concentrate on the relevance of taking the alignments of the planets into account before performing a Skridelle spell in March, and the more she tried to remember the information from when she had first memorised the information, the more blank her memory seemed to become. She circumspectly took the leaf from the book out and read Draco's hand-written note at the top of it before reading the information that Warlock Gornby de Ferrière had written in Marseilles in the year 1685 for the third time that morning. She was so intrigued by the information that rested in the old paper that she never noticed someone leaning over her shoulder, until she heard the person saying _'found this in the book I was stuck transcribing; it'll probably interest you Granger'_ that is. She covered the page with her arms and turned around to demand what they were doing by invading her privacy like that, and her furnace-like cheeks matched the same colour of her friend's hair, Ronald Weasley.

      "It's nothing—I found it in a book"

      "You just happened to find it in a book?"

      "Y-yes"

      "Dedicated to you?"

      "Umm"

      "In ink from modern times?"

      "Uhhhh…"

      "Where'd you get it?"

      "Um, Professor Flitwick gave it to me after Charms yesterday"

      "And he's called you Granger since…? Why won't you just tell me who gave it to you?"

      "Why are you being so nosy? If you must know, Neville gave it to me. I didn't want to tell you in case you began to act immaturely. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some studying to do"

      "I was only asking you as a friend, and there was no need to be so crabby about it"

      And with that, he turned and rejoined Harry for another game of Wizard's Chess, and he felt betrayed by Hermione's reluctance to tell him about an interesting article. He had only enquired out of interest, not out of selfish reasons, and she had openly lied to him; not only had they held an atrocious influence over her regarding breaking rules that made her an exceptional liar, he had easily recognised the handwriting. He glanced at her one more time before gaining an outstanding victory over Harry, but she never noticed his motion as she had become reabsorbed in the extract.

      In the Slytherin common room, Draco was struggling to see his books through his foggy vision for he too wanted nothing more than to sleep for another twelve hours minimum. Even though he attempted to block the sounds of the ongoing whispers about him, there was only so much he could listen to before he snapped. He slammed the books shut and headed towards the portrait hole to find some solitude elsewhere in the vast castle; he wasn't willing to engage in yet another argument that would only result in his public degradation. He strode along the corridors with no destination in his mind, and he couldn't help but wonder what had made his life reverse all of a sudden—he used to be fairly popular within his House and now he was the most-talked about person in an entirely different sense; he had been forced to resign his position as Seeker in Quidditch; Snape had replaced the favouritism streak he had shown towards him with one of pure hatred, and now he was seeking attention from a Muggle-born girl. All in all, he felt more isolated than he had ever done in his life and he felt as though he had nobody to confide in with anything that bothered him. And, he darkly thought to himself, there was a lot he wanted to tell.

      He leaned against a wall on the outside of the castle as he gazed at the white grounds before him, and he noticed some first years racing each other across the frozen lake on bewitched lily pads. He closed his eyes as he recalled the occasion that had initiated his isolation, but it was an action that was severed by a voice interrupting him.

      "Leave her alone Malfoy, like all your friends have left you"

      "Isn't there an award out there somewhere that you should be winning Potter, or haven't they invented the prize for obnoxious little brats yet?"

      "I'd have thought you'd remember the only thing you've ever won honestly in your life Malfoy, or is interfering with members of a different house your new ploy?"

      "I'd imagine that you're the interfering one, seeing that I haven't said or done anything to you lately"

      "She's our friend Malfoy, and we're not going to let a spoilt brat like you give her false information"

      "What false information do you mean?"

      "We saw the page you gave her"

      "I couldn't have known the extent of that information, and if either of you research it you'll find out if its true or not"

      "How can we research it if you defile books?"

      "Query it all you want, but it's the truth as far as I can tell. Surely you are capable of using a counter-charm to see if it's been tampered with?"

      "What have you told her?"

      "You mean you've just come out here to tell me not to give someone information and _you don't even know what it said?_"

      "That's not fair Malfoy"

      "Really? Why not?"

      Draco turned around for the first time since leaving the castle and glared at his opposition, who were presently blocking his only chance of re-entering the cosy building, and with a contemptuous glare he barged between them and interweaved the many corridors to return the way he had come. He knocked into the girl that he had perplexed after detention, and her eyes noticeably brightened as he apologised disconsolately and picked up her books for her. She asked him if something was wrong and he muttered that it was nothing Potter probably couldn't handle with both sarcasm and depression noted in his tone. She asked him if he had enough time to spare to tell her what was bothering him, and he sighed as he revealed that he had all the time in the world, ignoring a remark being made about him actually talking to someone, but even though he hoped she hadn't heard it (which she hadn't), anguish was visible on his face. He traced her jaw line with his forefinger and asked her if she could meet him that night when they'd be alone, as he was uncomfortable discussing anything in the corridors. She agreed and asked him if he wanted to meet her at the edge of the Forbidden Forest at eleven—an hour after curfew—and if one of them hadn't shown up by ten minutes, they were to return instead of prolonging the chance of being given another detention. He smiled at her whilst she took her books back from him and he tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, neither of them daring to blink as the moment became more intense. Or at least it would have done, had Peeves not just floated through a wall behind Hermione and pushed her into Draco, telling her to control her emotions in public places, and the scream she had released had alerted Ron and Harry to the scene, and they attempted to ward Malfoy off. He glared at both of them prior to angrily turning around and heading towards the Slytherin dungeon since there was nowhere else he could go without being ridiculed, and Harry and Ron had proved just that. He didn't want to enter his own house for he knew the fate that would befall him behind the portrait, and it was a certainty as he had suffered the same torment from them all week (he was grateful for Madame Pomfrey's expertise when she had cleared up a black eye that a third year he didn't even know had given him a couple of days beforehand). At least he now had tonight to look forward to, unless Hermione was joking with him and she would never show up, just to act as a form of payback for all the times he had stupidly called her a Mudblood. Fury and depression flowed through his veins upon seeing his books on the table where he had left them, or more correctly, the remnants of them, and mocking laughter echoed in his ears as he heard the whole room laugh at him as he collected the irreparable pieces.

      Hermione had been interrogated for reasons why she was angry with them for saving her when they had clearly heard her scream in Draco's arms, and when she was asked if he had tried to force her to kiss him, she snapped for them both to mind their own business since her lips had gone nowhere near his, and in her mind, she added 'unfortunately'. They decided to visit Hagrid, and despite their differences regarding Malfoy, they were able to hide their minor conflict in their large friend's hut. Fang whined at Ron's feet and Hagrid explained that the boarhound hadn't seen them in a while and was beginning to worry about them like a human would. They had been so caught up in revision that they had barely seen Hagrid at all over the last month, with the exception of Care Of Magical Creatures class, or as Ron called it, Caution Of Monstrous Creatures. Hermione seemed to have forgotten all about her study regime as she chomped on one of Hagrid's infamous rock buns out of politeness, and they excitedly told him everything that had happened of interest lately, with the past forty-eight hours. They were sorry to leave the comforting warmth of the hut as darkness approached since they didn't want to end up in the Forbidden Forest as an unknown creature's meal under any circumstances, and they seemed to have forgotten about their dispute even though Hermione's eyes gleamed with anticipation about the next time she would be down there, and who she would be down there with.

      Whilst eating in the Great Hall later that evening, Hermione noticed Draco talking to a younger male Slytherin, and his body language gave her the impression that it wasn't a friendly discussion they were having. She heard the entire Griffindor table hoot with laughter and she realised that she had missed the punch line of one of Nick's jokes, which were usually quite funny. She smiled nervously whilst pretending that she had heard it, and she found it hard to keep her eyes away from the blond youth that had caught her attention. She noticed Draco turning his back on the other Slytherin and the young male took his wand out and began to call out a curse much to her astonishment. She automatically pointed her wand at him whilst crying out _'Expelliarmus!'_ to save her former nemesis from humiliation. Her practical reaction earned more laughter, only this time from the Slytherin table, and when she looked back at the door there was no sign of Draco. She excused herself from the table before she tore out of the room after him to see if she could try and help him, but much to her dismay there wasn't a trace of him. A plan suddenly entered her head and she raced back to do something that she would never have dreamt of doing in the past—she intended to steal the Invisibility Cloak that Harry's father had bequeathed him. She left an apologetic note in the drawer that bore the Cloak in the boys' dormitory in case they saw it was missing before she had replaced it. She ran back to her room and exhaled deeply to release some of the adrenaline that was suddenly coursing through her body, and she gleefully thought of seeing Draco within the next two hours.

      Once everyone had departed from the main room as it drew near to eleven o' clock, she slid out of her room and approached the portrait of the Fat Lady to make her escape. She received a warning about sneaking out of the common room after curfew, but the painting swung back nevertheless and Hermione eagerly clambered out as she inconspicuously made her way to the Forbidden Forest. She saw the boy in question resting against a tree where they had agreed to meet, and she silently walked over to him to get a good look at the emotions that were visible on his face before making her presence known. The same weary look met her eyes and she gasped out of shock when he turned his head to look right at her, and for a moment she had forgotten that she was invisible. Her sound startled him and he took his wand out and muttered _'Lumos'_ to try and find out who was in the vicinity, and he was shocked when he saw Hermione materialise before him, as he was completely unaccustomed to Invisibility Cloaks. She breathed out a form of a greeting between laughter at his face, and luckily he understood the funny side of it. He took the shimmering material in his hand and asked her how she had acquired it, and instantly dropped it when he found out whom the owner was. She raised an eyebrow at him quizzically as if to dare him to voice his opinions, but he decided against it all the same. He was about to say something when they heard Hagrid demanding to know who was there as Fang had caught their scents on the bitterly cold breeze that was blowing, and Hermione suddenly realised that their cloak wouldn't serve to conceal their footprints on the stark white ground. She pointed this out as quietly as she possibly could to Draco, and after he had extinguished the flame at the tip of his wand, he grabbed her wrist and sped off into the general direction of the castle. They heard an indignant miaow from Mrs Norris at the sound of their heavy breathing, and they reluctantly continued down the corridor in the main foyer. Once they had sufficiently distanced themselves from the feline, they rested against a wall bedecked with sleeping portraits and they threw the Cloak over themselves to buy them some time. They initially felt awkward at the closeness that was required of them to keep completely covered, and she felt her cheeks being replaced with heating cauldrons when he pulled her even closer to him. Their lips had only touched momentarily when their good mood sank to the pits of their stomachs when Peeves tore the Cloak from them and bellowed out down the corridor:

      "TWO SIXTH YEARS OUT OF BED AND ALL OVER EACH OTHER!!! SEVERUS!!!"

      Their attempts to reclaim the Cloak were futile, and they heard the unmistakable _swoosh_ of their Potions teacher's cloak along the stone floor, and they saw the glow of a wand getting brighter at the corner from which they had run away from Mrs Norris…


	3. Victory And Visions

                                Keep your friends close… 

      Once the initial foreboding sense of doom had sunk in, Draco blinked to rid his eyes of their glassy, terror-stricken appearance and he told Hermione that they should just forget about the Cloak whilst Peeves cackled evilly overhead. She looked as though she didn't have a drop of blood in her face as she realised that she would have to face Harry and tell him what had happened at some point, and she felt even worse when she had taken it from him without permission in the first place. She felt Draco grab her wrist again and he sped down the corridor before Snape would be given sufficient time to see who they were, and he silently prayed that his blond hair wouldn't be too noticeable in the dark. Snape was infuriated when he found Peeves with something hidden behind his back, and the poltergeist refused to say what had happened until the professor said 'Please'. Peeves couldn't believe that the same professors fell for the same trick year after year, and when Snape said please with a curled upper lip, Peeves screeched 'What had happened' before cackling amidst a loop-the-loop and speeding away in the direction Snape had just walked in. After an irritated curse to himself whilst the spectre gradually disappeared from his eyesight, Snape realised something of great importance—he had spotted what Peeves had attempted to hide from him. His lips twisted into a sadistic smile as he knew that only one person in the school had an Invisibility Cloak, which meant that if it wasn't evidence enough to get Potter expelled, it would certainly be enough to give him another detention. He gathered his robes around himself and sought the company of Argus Filch, to tell him to keep a close eye on the Griffindor tower that night.

      Seeing that the Slytherin dungeon was closer than the Griffindor tower was, they decided to seek refuge there until they had regained their breath and until Snape would have given up on catching them. Draco panted out the password to the portrait, which made a show of displeasure when it needed to allow a student from another House in, and they collapsed on the black leather couches together. She looked around the common room in amazement, as she was the only one out of her friends that hadn't been in there, and she still had a fear of turning into a cat whenever she was required to drink a potion to determine if it was right. Draco was genuinely worried about leaving the Cloak with the irksome poltergeist—not that he was worried for Potter's safety (in reality it was quite the opposite), but he didn't know what would happen to Hermione when Harry found out what she had used it for. Once their breathing had become more regulated, Hermione asked the question that had been playing in both of their minds:

      "What do we do now?"

      "I really don't know, and how are we supposed to get it back?"

      "It's certain that Peeves will lose interest in it sooner or later, so all we need to worry about is if another student will find it first. Harry's going to kill me"

      "Let's not worry about him right now, since he probably hasn't missed it yet. Do you think Peeve told Snape who we were?"

      "I sincerely doubt that anything will happen to you anyway if he did. It's clear he lets you away with anything"

      "Not any more. Let's just say that I'm no longer his favourite student, and that he wants to get me with everything he can send at me"

      "Really? Why is that? I did find it strange that he gave you detention yesterday…"

      "I don't want to go into it right now. Listen, I think it might be for the best if you stay here tonight, unless you want to confront Snape in the corridors again"

      "I guess you're right, but where will I sleep? No offence, but the idea of sleeping on leather makes my blood run cold"

      "I didn't expect you to; you can have my bed if you want it and I'll sleep out here. I didn't intend making you sleep on a couch—you are here as a guest after all"

      "That's so nice of you. I really wouldn't have expected anything like this from you a couple of years ago. Heck, even a couple of months ago"

      "I'm sorry for acting like such a jerk to you, but I've only recently seen how different my priorities are compared to when we first met"

      "I would have never expected you to do anything for me all the time I've attended Hogwarts, so you can imagine what your change of attitude is doing to me!"

      "What can I say? Looks can be deceiving"

      He stared at her intently for a couple of minutes before breaking eye contact with her and assisting her towards the male dormitories as quietly as they possible could. Once they were in the bedroom, they surreptitiously walked over to the bed and Draco carefully pulled back the sheets to check that a curse hadn't been left there for him. Again. He was grateful to see that there wasn't, and he knelt down to open his trunk under the bed for some light clothes for Hermione to sleep in. When he lifted up the lid on it, a sudden steam of orange light rushed out and covered his face with what looked like toadstools. He felt mortified as Hermione performed the counter-curse and he was glad to see that she seemed more concerned for his welfare than amused, and he muttered:

      "Goyle, always the practical joker"

      She didn't believe that the curse had been intended as a friendly one, but she knew better than to press for details in case it resulted in an argument in territory that was unknown to her. He passed her the light clothes and quietly muttered that she should probably be careful whilst getting changed in case his 'friends' had decided to play another practical joke on him, and he was avoiding eye contact with her when she touched where the fungi had just been growing. The contrast between her cool fingers and his uncomfortably warm skin created a strange feeling inside Draco; he knew it was a bad situation to be caught in when he was trying to impress someone, but the strange thing was that he didn't feel remotely as uncomfortable as he would have imagined it to be. His glacier-blue eyes turned to her soft brown eyes to see what she was feeling, and he found genuine concern for his welfare in her expression. He looked as if he was about to say something, and he suddenly stopped, after realising that his gratitude would be more visible in the physical form he decided on—another kiss, but this one bore no interruptions similar to those that had hindered their previous attempts. He parted his lips from hers after what had seemed like forever, and he softly whispered that they needed to get some sleep before they woke the others up. It was only when she was getting changed surreptitiously that Hermione become conscious of the fact that she had once again forgotten to ask Draco why he had shown her the parchment, but as she shut her eyes in his bed, she realised that there was always tomorrow…

      Meanwhile, Draco was being haunted by a nightmare for most of the night, and to add to his discomfort, it took place in a shadowed graveyard with swirling black figures moving sinuously through the overpowering fog. Nevertheless, a couple of shapes were identifiable, even with all of the lithe figures twisting around him there.

      …Those serpentine movements…how am I supposed to keep an eye on him if he won't stop moving? Why is he allowing Nagini to follow me like that? Wait…that figure in the distance…can it be?

      _"You have disappointed me greatly Draco. Have you no sense of comprehension of what a decent witch is?"  
      "Father?"_

_      "Yes Draco. You are a disgrace to our family. YOU ARE ABOUT TO CONTAMINATE OUR FAMILY LINE WITH A MUDBLOOD"_

_      "Sh-she isn't a mudblood, she's different from other muggle-borns"_

**_      Step aside Lucius; this boy needs to be taught a lesson._**

****_   No…it's as I feared…NOT YOU!!!_

_      **Do you think I can't read your pathetic little mortal thoughts, boy?**_

_      "Wh-what do you want with me?"_

_      **You know what it is; it has been prophesised and there's no point in resisting. Nagini, show him what we can do to convince him.**_

****The large snake suddenly erupted from its position and wrapped herself around Draco tightly, and he feared that his ribs were crushing under the immense strength that the creature bore. He felt light-headed from the excruciating pain that he endured, and suddenly it ended without warning. Nagini pierced his right bicep with her sharp poisonous fangs and he felt a dull throb pound in his ears as the creature that should be human began to talk to him again.

      **_I could kill you now for your defiance whelp, so it's in your best interest to follow your instructions through with this. If you fail to bring…_**

**_"I don't want to do anything like this—she hasn't done anything to you"_**

_      ****__She has served that Potter brat in each of my previous attacks. If she is eliminated, then I can kill him once and for all. Is it you don't want to be part of my allegiance? I can inflict more pain than Nagini just did, and I can make you long for death beyond death. It's basically this: Stay loyal to me, or die in your defiance._

_      "I__ can't let you kill her; she is drifting away from him as we speak. Within a few days they won't be talking to each other at all, and she wont work with him—I have seen evidence of this in action already"_

_      **At least you have given her the information. If she were to research the warlock in question properly, she'd see that his descendants were to become my most faithful Death-Eaters of all. It is such a shame that one of them died in Azkaban. At least they were loyal until the end, unlike YOU**_

_      "WHAT??? You mean the information I gave her was…?"_

_      **I know. I also hear that my old Death-Eater has been causing some problems for you. Not to worry, he'll be annihilated shortly**_

_      "Please no"_

**_      Why? What has that traitor got that he deserves to survive? Or are you in love with him too?_**

****Shallow laughter echoed all around the macabre setting, and the poison caused Draco to pass out, but he managed to see one final thing before shooting awake in agony, his eyes bloodshot and a far deeper hue than their usual glacier blue: Lord Voldemort raised his bony arm and cast a spell on the weakened youth…


	4. Pain, Passion And Power

                                                               Keep your friends close… 

      Torture and misery failed to come anywhere near the description of how Draco was feeling as he cried to himself on the couch; Nagini's poison was circulating through his fragile system and his ribs creaked every time he breathed. His grey eyes were completely bloodshot and a far deeper colour than they had ever been in the past; his hair was askew across his face and there was a strong ringing in his ears, undoubtedly from his 'passing out' in his 'dream'. Or so he thought. Panic was swarming through the youth's body as he struggled to gain relief from his lacerations, and he knew that he couldn't get help from anyone in the area, including Hermione. If he told her what had happened in his dream, there was no chance that she'd seek his company again; it was true he didn't know that there was something wrong in the parchment when he had given it to her, and now that she believed it to be true, he had been told that the warlock was an ancestor of some of Voldemort's loyal followers. He was afraid to go asleep in fear of finding his father and Voldemort again, but he was afraid to stay awake from the pain he was in. He heard the distant sound of bells ringing, and he felt calm as the noise comforted his weary soul. The pain seemed to disappear so he relaxed against the couch once more now that his fear had disintegrated, and he felt like he was in nirvana from his total sense of bliss. He closed his unusually coloured eyes before allowing his mind to drift away from the haunting dream that had caused so much damage to him both physically and emotionally, and an idea suddenly announced itself in his calm thoughts: 'Tell Hermione what to do'. He was wrecked, but he decided to get up to visit Hermione nevertheless; when was she likely to sleep in his bed again? He surreptitiously opened the door to his room and he stealthily crept towards his four-poster bed due to his unwilling attitude of waking up the other members of Slytherin in his desires to see the girl he loved. She was sleeping soundly in his clothes, and it had a strange effect that exchanged his desire to tell her about the prophecy to one of allowing her to rest. He reluctantly turned to leave the room, and when he had returned to his makeshift bed on the leather couch, he heard someone coming from the opposite direction. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face Pansy Parkinson emerging from the girl's dormitories, and before he could even acknowledge who it was properly, she walked over to him and flirtatiously asked if the covers on the couch was an invitation for her. He gave her a look of sheer disgust and performed an entirely unnatural action for his character; he swooped down on her and pressed her against the wall closest to them before hissing out:

      "I told you after I took you to the Yule Ball two years ago that I can't stand you as a girlfriend, so why would I want anything to do with you now? You're about as sexually attractive as Crabbe is"

      The words that poured out of his mouth undoubtedly stunned her, and his grip tightened on her shoulders as his eyes glowed an eerie electric blue. He blinked once and she found herself back in her bed without moving, and her face and shoulders bore scratch marks that she had never received from him. She was so terrified by what her ex-boyfriend had done to her—and called her—that had she wanted to, she couldn't restrain herself from continuing to cry uncontrollably into her sheets as the blood began to trickle out of her fresh wounds. Draco allowed himself a smile as he repositioned himself on the couch and when he closed his eyes, he sadistically relived the adrenaline he had received in using a new surge of power within his system. The outlandish power had sealed up the wounds that Voldemort and Nagini had caused, and even though it was a new addition to him he was becoming under the impression that there was no downside to this added essence in his very soul. His swiftness and dexterity made him a powerful and dangerous adversary, but a more important feature was his ability of self-healing; it meant that he possessed every opportunity of being invincible.

                                                                                                  *~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

      It took Hermione a few moments to realise where she was when she didn't initially recognise her surroundings, and she was aware of a presence in her proximity. She felt his hand run along her face and she breathed out 'Good morning' after he kissed her lightly on her lips. It was still light and by the sounds that his roommates were emitting, they were the only two awake there. She instinctively drew the covers close to her body as he kissed her more passionately, and although she couldn't quite place it, there was definitely something different in his technique; it seemed to have a fiery kick in it that wasn't there before. She felt his hands beginning to travel over her body and she broke away sharply from their kiss after he touched her somewhere that nobody else had ever touched before. He removed his hand and he whispered a sincere apology for acting like that, and she could tell by his expression that he hadn't thought it would annoy her at the time, but it was that thought that confused her the most; what he had done hadn't annoyed her, and in a strange way she had liked it, but she still felt the need to tell him to behave himself. Perhaps it was her organised lifestyle that wanted him to leave actions like that until they were entirely alone, or maybe it was refraining herself from experiencing enjoyment in new sources in case she developed too much of a rebellious attitude. He reminded her that she needed to get back to Gryffindor Tower before anybody realised she was missing, and he left the room to allow her to get changed back into her clothes. They knew it was going to be riskier on the return journey than it had been the night before as Filch had been given orders to guard the Fat Lady's portrait heavily, and neither of them had any idea if the reinforcement was still in action. Luckily, by the time they'd got there, the area was as it normally should be without anyone else in the vicinity. He leant down to kiss her goodbye but he ceased his action when they heard the portrait swing open to reveal Neville Longbottom clambering out of the opening. He stopped as he stepped out of the hole and fell to the ground, causing Draco to attempt to disguise a snort of delight at Neville's expense. This enraged Neville and he stood up with his fists clenched, and he surprised them by assertively declaring that he was willing to fight him if he didn't leave Hermione alone. Draco stood before the boy and coolly whispered that he wasn't harming Hermione in the slightest and that he was merely escorting her to the Great Hall for breakfast. He chose to stand at an angle where only Neville could see his face before allowing his eyes to glow an electric blue momentarily, causing the round boy to retreat for the safety of the Tower once more. Draco blinked to make his eyes return to normal and he walked with Hermione towards the Great Hall since that was where they were supposedly going now anyway, and in lieu of the fact they knew they were alone, he slid his arm around her without a hint of worry or embarrassment as they continued to walk. Or at least, they thought they were unseen…

      They discovered that they were nearly the only occupants of the Great Hall when they arrived there, save for a few eager first years and the residential ghosts that were diving and swooping around the room; it was as if they were looking for something that only their spectral eyes could see. It was hard for the new couple to separate to sit at different tables, but they sat in such a manner that they could see each other without their companionship being obvious to the student body. The mood automatically changed to a more sombre one for Draco when Harry and Ron entered the room with Neville in tow, and hushed words were exchanged between the sixth year Gryffindors, and when combined with more than a few venomous glares aimed at Draco, he thought it would be wise to finish the rest of his breakfast and leave the Hall. He wasn't given that option though; what the ghosts had been searching for suddenly erupted through the tray in the centre of the Gryffindor table, which covered the first years in its vicinity in toast, and both Hermione and Draco's hearts plummeted to the pits of their stomachs when they saw what it was. Peeve's head was barely visible behind one of the floating candles, and he was screeching at the top of his malevolent voice, and he seemed more high-spirited than usual in every sense of the term. He swooped down at Hermione and lifted her up onto the table, and she suddenly became aware of how much the room had filled since she had entered it. She thought to be suspended inches from the solid ground by a pair of arms that had been dead for countless years to be a sheer horrible feeling. Peeves suddenly dropped her and screeched out next to her ear:

      "Just wondered what you looked like when you weren't acting invisible on top of another student, ickle girlie. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"

      She felt at least one of her bones crack underneath her weight as she landed gracelessly on the cold ground, and whilst a crowd gathered around her, the poltergeist seized this distraction to make his exit without losing his exciting new prize, and he pulled the Cloak over himself again whilst speeding down the corridor. She felt Draco gently supporting her and he quietly asked her if she was feeling alright in case her ears were ringing from the fall, but she was dismissed before she could reply to his considerate comment by Harry growling in a dangerous tone:

      "You took my Cloak, am I right in saying that?"

      Hermione nodded mutely, but she wasn't given a sufficient time to answer him since when she started to say something, Harry cut her off again:

      "My father left me that Cloak, and am I to understand that you took it without my permission to visit HIM and do unmentionable things to him, BEFORE letting a GHOST STEAL IT?"

      "I-I didn't do anything wrong with…"  
      "You may be intelligent Hermione, but you're stupid if you feel a priceless heirloom is worth nothing compared to a quick feel-up with Malfoy, if that's where you left it at"

      His words echoed in her head as Draco carried her out of the hall towards the hospital wing, and neither of them said anything, until they saw Pansy Parkinson stopping at the opposite end of a corridor upon seeing them from their position at the top of a flight of stairs. She pointed at Draco and she hysterically screamed that he'd struck out at another person again before running away in the direction she had come from in sheer terror; Draco quickly shrugged it off by explaining about the conspiracy that his House had about him, and that was why they were ignoring him. He hoped that his cover story worked, and after she had seen the curse infect his nose when he had been giving her clothes, Hermione didn't have any reason to question his answer, and as an added security, Pansy was too far away for Hermione to have seen her cuts. When they got to the waiting room, Draco set her down on a chair that was there before embracing her tightly to share his body heat—the feel of Peeves' skin against her own made her feel like it was encased in ice. He found that the extreme cold against his body was displeasing, but he held her against him regardless of this fact; it was more important to regulate her temperature than a few minutes of discomfort. He kissed her lightly and she found relief in this show of affection, even though her thoughts were still occupied with Harry's harsh remark towards her. Draco heard someone approaching with his new sense of acute hearing, and he pulled his lips away from hers before Madame Pomfrey turned the corner. He calmly explained the situation to the nurse, and she rolled her eyes when she heard that Peeves had caused another accident for her to fix that morning. She resignedly explicated that it wasn't like him to have attacked students to the extent of her having twelve patients before eleven o' clock, and she added that she wanted to know what his new trick or assistant was. The pair of guilt-ridden teenagers remained in total silence after she said this, and upon healing over completely, Hermione walked outside the castle with Draco so they could talk without having abuse hurled at them by members from either House, even if it meant that they'd be cold. They sat on the cold steps and he held her against his body to keep her from getting an infection due to being exposed to the cold.

      "Are you alright now, Hermione?"

      "No. What Harry said earlier really upset me, and I feel so stupid to have let the Cloak get stolen"  
      "It wasn't your fault Peeves snatched it for his own; it's my fault you were out of bed in the first place. If you weren't meeting me, you wouldn't have required it in the first place"

      "I chose to meet you, therefore it's my fault it was stolen. I should have known it would happen, after all, I didn't even have his permission to use it in the first place. He thinks that we went further than we did, which means he's not going to believe me when I tell him we didn't. How the heck are we meant to retrieve it?"

      "It's only going to be a short time before someone gets it back; if it isn't the Bloody Baron, it'll be Dumbledore. Do you really expect people to let him keep something that can make his malevolent attacks even more malicious?"

      "Um…no"

      "Exactly. Don't worry about it. What's the worst that could happen to us?"

      "Expulsion"

      "Do you really think they'll allow the smartest witch to be expelled over a few minor broken rules? The Ministry would have something to say about that!"

      "I hardly think I'd be excused for my brainpower"

      "It's a better option that using your body to save yourself"

      "True. Draco, I really need to ask you something"

      "Yes?"  
      "I really like you, a lot, but I need to ask you about what you gave me"

      "The page?"  
      "Yes. It's puzzled me why you showed me it"

      "I care deeply for you too Hermione, and I was totally serious when I said I thought it would interest you"

      "Is it true?"

      "I didn't forge it, if that's what you were thinking"

      "It just seems so…coincidental, that's all"

      "I wouldn't do anything like that to confuse you. Have you got it with you? We should have looked over it together last night when we had some privacy"

      "Yes I have it, do you want to look at it again? I have a few questions to ask about it"

      "Yes please, if you don't mind. I need to…look over…something on it"

      _Extracted from the journal of Warlock Gornby de Ferrière in Marseilles, 1685_

_The planets and stars have aligned themselves and opened a portal to a time far beyond our own, and if this is what it is to be, I am certain that there is no equal of her knowledge in our time. A mere Muggle-born and student, this girl was the sole defeater of the most powerful evil at that time, and a threat of his magnitude has never been equalled, including his inspirer. It is true that her battle-experience was limited, I could see the panic in her eyes as she raised her wand, and like the novice she was she rushed to her opponent's side after mortally injuring him. The darkness that had seized the castle lifted, and the tragedies or the battle disappeared, unquestionably back to their origins. This young Muggle-born was about to be presented with an Order Of Merlin, First Class before the celestial bodies wrenched me back to Marseilles. Although my decision to glimpse the future was assisted by the longing to know the outcome of Fenwick the Formidable present Goblin Rebellion, I have now reached the conclusion that pertinent procedures must be carried out for this threat of the juncture that will be at large. No matter what, I must make sure that my family and future generations will assure its allegiance before the battle begin, so we can show our loyalty to the one that can be so great._

_      Many other records have been found of this prophecy, yet none that bear the Divination gift have managed to reveal the heroine's identity. Regardless of this irksome fact, we have uncovered some facts over the years: It will start and end in Hogwarts Castle, School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry; the girl is Muggle-born and will defeat an evil greater than what has been known beforehand; It will take place one hundred and forty-seven years after Brixen's defeat over Gorgenwort, the fearsome giant that once ruled the centre of Europe from a tiny cavern in a mineshaft, and there will be no equal to come from either side of the great battle that is to be._

      "Is there anything you want to ask me about it?"

      "When did the battle take place?"

      "I believe one hundred and forty-seven years ago"

      "And the greatest evil?"

      "Don't you know anyone whom everyone fears?"

      "I'm going to kill VOLDEMORT???"

      "Apparently, or so I believe. It seems you're set for fame that Potter only half-grasped when he was blasted as a kid"

      "I…can't"

      "Who else can it be? A Muggle-born girl whose intelligence that hasn't been matched, in Hogwarts? Who is a novice at fighting? Do you know anyone else who has ever gotten two hundred and thirty-five per cent when they broke their quill in the middle of it and needed to wait fifteen minutes for an Anti-Cheating Spell replacement?"

      "No, but it still might perhaps mean…"

      "THERE YOU TWO ARE. Accio parchment"

      They turned around to see Potions Master Severus Snape standing behind them with a twisted smile showing that he was planning something that wasn't beneficial to them, especially when he had finished reading the parchment.

      "Will you both follow me to the library, where you can tell Madame Pince what damage **you **have inflicted on one of her rarest, oldest and most valuable books?"

      There was no disguising the detestation in the older man's voice when he spoke to Draco, and the youth stood up from the steps to defiantly stare Snape in his face, and Draco easily allowed his eyes to resume glowing the electric blue hue once more in his moment of annoyance…


	5. Draco's Destructive Desire

                                                               Keep your friends close… 

      Since Hermione remained behind him, she couldn't see the unusual colour in his eyes, and she didn't understand when he began to stare at the older man without either of them moving or saying anything. Without warning, Snape gasped and clutched his forearm in an attempt to relieve the sting that was as agonising as a thousand white-hot needles jabbing down into his skin simultaneously. The Potions Master returned to the Castle without escorting either of them to the library, and he had dropped the parchment in his pain. When he was safely in his office, he rolled up the sleeve of his robes and examined his forearm; it was a bright red colour from whatever had just happened to him, and where the symbol as a follower of Voldemort had once been, there was now an image of a black cauldron. Seeing that he specialised in potions, it wasn't as offensive to him as the original tattoo had, and he didn't realise that the rebellious youth had actually done his Head of House a favour; by removing the original symbol, it would be harder for Voldemort to trace him, and it might just have saved his life. Back outside, Hermione looked at Draco in bewilderment, and she said that she had never seen him act like that, and he had never passed up an opportunity to land her in trouble. He agreed with her before walking back inside with his arm around her, and they headed off towards Gryffindor Tower so she could catch up on whatever study she had missed, but they stopped when Draco suddenly doubled up with a broken jaw. He strained his ears to hear where his opponent was over Hermione's worried questions, and he struck a fist out and it collided with metal, causing a few of his knuckles to crack. He snatched out again and reclaimed the Invisibility Cloak from Peeves, who had been hiding in a suit of armour in the middle of a corridor, and the angry poltergeist hit Draco with the arm of the suit again. Since he was unable to talk due to his jaw being broken, Hermione went to pull out her wand for a freezing spell, until she remembered that it was still in her dormitory from the night before (she hadn't expected to spend all night with Draco) and she couldn't do anything to help him. Just as unexpectedly, the knight imploded into many pieces over the corridor and Peeves angrily cackled as he floated through a wall. The Bloody Baron suddenly appeared beside them, and he said to Draco that only a true Slytherin could pull off what he had been doing, and by touching the boy's face with his bloodied scimitar, his bones fixed themselves and he muttered out a form of gratitude, hoping that he meant reclaiming the Cloak, and not what he had done to anyone else. He suddenly felt sick with guilt, until he heard Hermione whisper that they should press on before they became entangled in any further trouble and they continued walking. A pair of jealous eyes glared at them angrily, and the person waited impatiently as they saw them kissing as a form of goodbye, but still they waited until the other two had definitely parted before attempting to get Draco alone, and to make him pay for his actions.

                            *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

      "Are you certain that what you're saying is true?"

      "What reason would I have to lie about that scum? I saw it with my own eyes"

      "It's hard to believe, that's all"

      "He was all over Granger, or at least I could tell he wanted to be. Do you think I did this to myself?"

      "Of course not. I knew the rumours held truth in them, but I doubted that he was as odious as this"

      "So, he looked at you funny and you ended up in another room?"

      "I know it sounds absurd, but I'm honest. His eyes went this funny colour and he somehow assaulted me without touching me and without time passing"

      "Did he say anything to you?"

      "No. He kept going on about how…never mind. I know we aren't friends; it's out of concern for her safety I'm telling you"

      "I know. I hated him enough before any of this started, and now he's prizing her away from Ron and myself and she's letting it happen. Sometimes…"

      After his final word, Harry trailed off from his sentence and glanced at the wall beside Pansy's face; his expression was a mixture of something that she couldn't figure out, it looked to be like fury, jealousy and sorrow all in one. Ron seemed to be the more infuriated of the pair of Gryffindor boys, yet he spoke with reason instead of channelling his anger at a frightened Slytherin girl. They had been surprised by her approaching them with evidence against a member of her own House, and although they had understood a lot of what had happened to them in the past, including "Mad-Eye's" methods of teaching, they couldn't explain anything that Pansy had said about Malfoy. Harry suddenly got up and announced that he was going to talk to Dumbledore for some advice, but Pansy pleaded with him not to mention it to him; she felt that if the headmaster learned of it, he wouldn't believe her and the school might end up knowing about what had happened to her. So far, she had been able to hide her marks from her friends by saying they had happened due to a delayed reaction from a Herbology class and it had been accepted. Harry promised that he wouldn't, but he went to Dumbledore's office all the same, wishing that Remus Lupin were there to assist him as he had in the past. Whilst he was approaching the gargoyle that hid the entrance to Dumbledore's office, he noticed Snape grasping his forearm as he caused the stone statue to spring to life. Harry squinted his eyes before running forward and jumping onto the moving stairs without giving the gargoyle time to close the exit again. Luckily, Snape didn't notice him, and Harry waited outside the office as Snape heatedly discussed what was wrong, even though Harry couldn't make out they were saying. He moved in the corridor to peer in through the slightly ajar door, and he noticed that Snape was lifting the sleeve of his robes for Dumbledore to see something, and Harry went into a sense of déjà vu; he remembered a similar scene unfolding before his eyes in his fourth year, even though there was someone else instead of Dumbledore then. Their voices rose angrily, but still in sight of this fact, Harry was unable to see what was wrong with his Potions teacher. Harry suddenly felt sick to his stomach; as he was an ex-traitor of Voldemort, there was a high possibility that there was a warning in the Dark Mark on his arm. He heard a crash in the room and Harry decided that it would be for his best if he weren't in the area whenever someone left the office. He raced back to find Ron, but he was brought to a sudden halt when he heard a miniature explosion coming from the direction of the dungeons. He resisted temptation to see what it was and carried on towards the Fat Lady; since he didn't want anyone to know that he had seen something wrong with his Potions teacher, he certainly bore no desire to be found near his classroom if something had gone wrong. Not to mention the fact that he loathed him for no real reason. He resumed sprinting up the stairs and he found Ron talking to Ginny; it would appear that he was trying to take his angry thoughts off the matter regarding Hermione. When he had become jealous after her liaison with Krum, it was nothing compared to how he felt now, considering the fact that Krum had been one of his idols, and Malfoy had always been a detestable creature in his eyes. He knew that she only saw him as a platonic friend, and he doubted her opinion would change, but it was still infuriating that she would prefer a wretched Slytherin's company as opposed to her two closest friends'. He saw Harry nod to him from the far end of the room, and he excused himself from his sister's company before walking to his dormitory with Harry so they could talk in private.

                         *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

      Draco's mind was swarming with thoughts regarding the extra essence in his body after he had kissed Hermione goodbye, and he was so distracted by them that he only realised he was being followed when they were five feet behind him. He stopped and his eyes returned to an electric blue colour as his follower remained paralysed behind him. He turned around and saw Neville in a frozen form of terror, and he noted that his eyes were scrunched firmly shut. Draco released him from his paralysis and asked the terrified Gryffindor why he was following him, although he knew the answer before it escaped his mouth, in a most uncivilised manner.

      "No, I'm not mistreating Hermione in any way, and there's no chance of you seeing me do that to anything, never mind myself. Is there a point to your 'stay away from her or else' speech, or are you merely acting as a careless annoyance to me?"

      "I mean it Malfoy, I'm not afraid to protect her, using any means possible"

      "Take your best shot, I dare you"

      Neville decided to follow out a threat for once in his life, and he took a swing at Malfoy that caused his fist to collide with his face, and there was a satisfying crunch of bones breaking as the contact was made. Instead of being annoyed or angry, Draco coolly whispered:

      "I think you should see Madame Pomfrey about that fist, and maybe consult someone who can punch without breaking their own hand"

      Neville couldn't hold back the tears of pain as the Slytherin resumed walking back to his House, and Draco moved his jaw a couple of times to remove the protective barrier that he had instated just before Longbottom's punch. His heart was suddenly lighter than it had ever been; He had a power that couldn't be figured out by _anyone_ in Hogwarts, including himself, and now he had two different sources of that power imbued in him. He had felt a surge through his system when the Bloody Baron had raised his rapier to his skin, and it was that power that had given him the ability to create the shield of protection from the imminent punch. The factor that was raising his spirits the most significantly was his courtship with Hermione; his strong feelings for her were supported greatly by the jealousy shown towards him for his success with her—if it wasn't by her friends, it was from his Housemates. He reached the common room without any more interruptions, and the identity of the sole occupant, Pansy Parkinson, surprised him. She glanced up once, and as soon as she saw who it was, she jolted up and warned him to stay back from her. He ignored her demands completely and walked over to the frightened girl, and he trapped her against the wall yet again with ease. She shrank back from his touch and he ran his fingers along the marks that his careless first spell had left on her skin; even though she was frightened by him holding her against the wall, she became petrified when she felt the injuries seal up. He tilted her quivering chin upwards and the tone of his voice etched through her spirit, and not in the same sense it had done when they had gone out together.

      "I see you've been abandoned by your friends, is that why you went running to Potter? 'Please help me, that evil little man has hurt me, yet I spread rumours that were untrue about him a couple of weeks ago that destroyed his reputation and lost him a position on the Quidditch team.' Was that what you said about me?"

      "Of course not"  
      "Of course not—that would involve telling the truth for a while, wouldn't it Parkinson?"

      "Don't call me that"

      "It's your name and it's a disease like you are, or would you rather be known as a homosexual?"

      "Shut up Malfoy"

      "Say it again please, you know hearing that so often by plenty of people makes it so much more enjoyable when I hear it the next time. Go on, **Parkinson**, turn me on"

      "You're sick"

      "So are you, if memory serves correctly. Since you love spreading filthy rumours about me, enjoy not being able to talk for a while"

      He ran his hand along her neck before leaving for the solitude of his bed, and as he inhaled Hermione's scent from his pillows, Pansy began sobbing frantically, but silently, against the wall. He fell into a light sleep as he continued to recall Hermione sleeping in his bed, and Voldemort and company also troubled this one.

      **_You were told to stay away from them both_**

****_"And so what? I'm not afraid of you anymore, and I'll act how I please with them both. Having trouble, trying to locate him?"_

_      **You'll regret your actions, whelp. For your information, I can easily provide another spy at Hogwarts, and there won't be anything you can do then. I see that my curse didn't work on you either; I've tried commanding you but you seem to have avoided it like Potter did. Perhaps I should just kill you now**_

****_"I'd like to see you try. You're washed up; you supposedly rose again, yet there's no fear in the atmosphere. There was me thinking you could pose some threat against the world"_

_      **AVADA KEDAVRA!**_

****But Draco was entirely unaffected by this curse; all he did was glare at the magic that zoomed towards him, and then he reflected it against everyone else there, including his father.


	6. Love And Losses

                                                               Keep your friends close… 

      Draco unintentionally opened his grey eyes after releasing the curse on Voldemort and his followers; he heard movement from some sort of commotion in the room where he had left a very frightened Pansy. He had wanted to see what the outcome would be, but he shrugged the annoyance away by thinking that he'd probably see the outcome of the spell in his next dream. He wondered how Hermione had gotten on with Harry when she had returned the Cloak, and he decided with a sadistic smile that he would like to teach Harry a lesson if he took his jealous anger out on Hermione. Crabbe and Goyle noisily entered the room, which interrupted his thoughts of hurting his nemesis, and they strode towards him in what they thought to be a menacing manner. The blond youth stood up and defiantly stared his ex-henchmen in the face as they trapped him against a wall, and he did nothing to stop Goyle as he held him in place. Crabbe growled out a demand for him to reveal what had happened to Pansy, and Draco smiled back innocently as he said that he hadn't physically harmed her in any way (he hadn't; he had used magic instead of his body to cause the damage), but neither of his fellow students believed him. Crabbe took a savage swing at Draco's chest and all present heard a sickening crack as his hand hit against the solid wall behind the smaller Slytherin _after going through Draco's body._ He retracted his hand quickly as it began to burn a crimson red, and in shock Goyle tore Draco's robes open to see if any marks had been left from Crabbe's punch, but all he saw was smooth, unblemished skin that should have been hit. He backed off automatically when he saw that there was nothing that could have caused the peculiar phenomenon to take place. Draco cracked his knuckles one by one; when they could hear each _pop_ that the cracking emitted from his hands, a large oozing boil sprang up on Goyle's face. He maliciously explained that it was payback for the curse that Goyle had left for him in the trunk as his old friends' faces bore expressions of horror. He rubbed his hands together that repeated the cracks as each bone returned to their original positions, which had the same effect on Goyle as the original cracks had. All Draco required to fix his robes was a mere glance down at them, and the material sprang to life as it re-stitched itself; the end result made it look like it had just been bought due to its quality. The older boys fled from the bedroom and Goyle headed off towards the hospital wing, only to be told that there was nothing Madame Pomfrey could do as she had never seen anything like them, and upon being asked what had happened to cause them to appear in the first place, Goyle remained silent and turned back towards the way he had come. He noticed an iridescent glow coming from the dungeon where their potions classes took place, and due to his curiosity, Goyle approached the door. Written on the door—no, hovering in front of the entrance—was a haunting message in a blood red substance, saying:

      "Any member of a family that has a Death-Eater for a parent may want to send their sympathy home before their funerals take place, since you were too late to say goodbye when they were still alive"

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      Hermione cautiously approached Harry in Gryffindor Tower as she saw that he was deep in conversation with Ron and Neville, and they abruptly silenced themselves when they noticed her presence. She handed Harry the Cloak and combined the gesture with a sincere apology, but he brushed it away as though she had just made a comment about the Dursleys. He stood up and snarled out that she might need to take it for another session with Draco again that night, so there wasn't much point in her returning it, and sorrowful tears filled her brown eyes as she was obviously hurt by his harsh comment. She turned and ran to the solitude of her bedroom and cried her heart out as Crookshanks jumped on the bed and rubbed against her body, and Hermione noticed that even her cat was acting differently towards her. Was it really that hard to find someone who wouldn't judge her actions? It apparently was, seeing that the ginger cat hissed furiously at her abdomen, undoubtedly from Draco's scent on her clothes, and Hermione wished that he was there with her since he appeared to be the only one who could remotely tolerate her at the moment. Much to her delight, an owl began tapping at the window and she gave it a small treat before it flew away after dispatching her letter, from Draco. She read it a couple of times to make sure she had gotten the details correctly, and it said that he really missed her and wanted to know if she'd meet him again that night, but without anything from Potter this time. She dried her eyes and sheer joy replaced her distraught expression as she fixed her appearance, and without glancing back towards her 'friends' in the corner of the room, she left through the portrait hole before curfew was in action. Ron immediately noticed this and he surreptitiously motioned to Harry at the Cloak, who understood the meaning of it perfectly. As Seamus Finnegan approached the corner through perfect timing, they excused themselves from Neville's company and they left through the portrait hole before either of the other Gryffindors could say anything about their unexpected exit. They pulled the Cloak over themselves before walking down a corridor; they were both hoping it to be part of the route Hermione had taken. They knew that they were in luck when they saw her standing alone at the end of the corridor, and they approached her stealthily so she couldn't discover their identities. They stopped when they were five feet away from her, and both of them realised how beautiful she looked when she was excited about something other than passing a test that everyone else failed. 

      It was hard for both of the Gryffindor boys to maintain their anger when they saw Malfoy meeting her a few minutes later, and both of them felt incredibly jealous when he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately. He whispered quietly to her before sliding his hand inside her robes, and they both saw how nervous she appeared with his hand inside her clothing; what they didn't know was that his intentions were honourable and he unexpectedly pulled her wand out and shot a wingardium leviosa spell in their direction. The Invisibility Cloak floated high into the air and the action revealed the furious boys underneath it to Hermione, who looked at them both with a look of pure annoyance. Draco returned the wand to her robes before she screamed at how they were happy to blame her for everything whenever they felt like it, and happy to get her to do research on their behalf when the need called for it, and now they were happy to invade her privacy. The angry words hung in the heavy atmosphere that Harry and Ron's actions had caused, and to prevent any further fights, Draco led her away from the speechless members of her House without allowing the Cloak to drop. He waited until they were a good bit away from them before asking her if she wanted to talk about it, and the response he got was a refusal and an angry sob. He held her against his body and he whispered to her whilst he ran his hand along her back to comfort her a bit as she continued to cry heavily into his chest. A single ring of a bell echoed throughout the school, indicating to students that they were to be in bed with their lights off no later than in five minutes. Hermione cried even harder when she heard it seeing that she knew she'd need to leave Draco before the second bell rang, and she explained this to him when she managed to control her sobs. He kissed her forehead as she spoke, and when she was finished, he offered her the option of sleeping in his dormitory again, so she wouldn't need to face the other two until the morning, and she immediately jumped at the opportunity. He led her back towards the Slytherin Common Room, and this time they weren't worried about being caught by anyone as there were still a couple of minutes left before curfew.

      After entering the Common Room, the first thing they both noticed how empty it was, and when they got to Draco's room, they saw that they were the only two there. They sat down on his bed together and he kissed her with less restraint than he had in the corridor—he had sensed the concealed pair the minute he reached Hermione, so he hadn't wanted to make her appear easy in any sense. She lay back on the bed and motioned for him to mimic her action without breaking their lip-lock, and she became more daring as they were plunged into darkness as the second bell knelled to signify curfew had started. She moved his hands back to where they had been the night before, as she was comfortable with the facts that they were alone, and in the dark so he couldn't see her initial sense of embarrassment. Their actions were becoming more heated when Draco suddenly sat forward and apologised to her, and she ran her fingers along his back when she said she wasn't angry; it **was**, after all, a perfectly normal male bodily function. He didn't say anything in response so she sat forward and trailed her warm fingers against his cool skin to the area in question. He initially flinched as she touched him, and she gently whispered that if she didn't have a problem with it, then he certainly shouldn't, and he revealed that he felt as if he lured her there just for a quick feel-up with him, as Potter had suggested earlier. Hermione saw how hurt he was actually feeling and kissed his cheek to make him feel better, and she argued that Harry had no idea what they got up to, and that he was under the impression that they had slept together. Draco quietly declared that she was making him want to do that to her as they lay together alone in the dark, and that he knew that they were the wrong feelings to have at this stage of their relationship, and that was how he felt he had let her down. She kissed him again before enquiring if he wanted her to leave if he was beating himself up because of her presence, and she teasingly chewed on his ear before easing him back on top of her. His 'problem' was far more noticeable than before, and Hermione had no idea what was making her act like this—she had never dreamed of doing this to anyone at Hogwarts, especially with someone who had acted like they hated her for five years. Although he could easily manipulate her into sleeping with him, all of her actions were originating from inside her own head and not due to his strange powers. The fact that she had opened his robes and shirt to make him half-naked was adding to their excitement, and they partook in what Harry had accused them of at an earlier point.

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      Harry and Ron waited until three sets of faint snores and grunts were being emitted by their roommates to reveal they were asleep, and then they heatedly discussed how Malfoy had treated their closest female friend that evening, and more importantly, how she had failed to return to Gryffindor Tower after the second bell. They had heard the unmistakable sound of a train leaving from Hogwarts a couple of hours beforehand, which made them both worry why there was a mini-evacuation in place; if a student was required to leave Hogwarts on an urgent family matter (no other reason was accepted, bar expulsion) there was a portkey arranged for them, so for a train to suddenly leave there must be a number of people abandoning their studies. They were now discussing all of the actions that Malfoy had apparently done from a couple of reliable sources and one of his own Housemates. It was also hard to explain how he could have possibly known they were there when they had been deliberately silent for that very reason, and in spite of being angry at Hermione's betrayal, her angry words had hurt them both as they realised that there was some truth in the matter. It appeared to her that they took her friendship for granted, and the more they considered it, the more apparent it could actually seem to her. It had taken a while to get the Cloak down as neither of them had their wands with them, but when the initial jealousy had disappeared, both of them had though it wise to wait in the Common Room until she returned so they could apologise to her, perhaps even wish her luck with their foe, but now they felt betrayed again. After a Prefect had ushered them to the dormitory, they waited intently to hear a creak from the portrait that never came. That night, Ron fell asleep with tears in his eyes due to the agonizing knowledge that he could never have Hermione in any way that Malfoy had her.

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      In the following morning, Draco kissed Hermione awake to remind her that they had Potions first thing, and the last thing he wanted was another night of writing just for being late. She sleepily agreed with him before kissing him properly whilst reaching for her robes, and she suddenly felt ill that her books were in Gryffindor Tower, and he calmly suggested that they went to have a quick breakfast in the Great Hall before it became too crowded, and then when people began to fill it up, they would wait behind a tapestry until her friends had gone into the hall, and then she could get her books safely. She grinned at his suggestion and kissed him one last time before getting up and starting to get dressed, and he half-grudgingly mimicked her actions. They followed out Draco's idea and it worked flawlessly, except for Nearly Headless Nick's head flopping down to his side after seeing the couple eating at the Slytherin table together—he had always assumed that Hermione was proud to be in Gryffindor. They were the first two to be at the dungeon, and Draco fell ill when he saw the crimson writing—he didn't remember doing it, and it meant that his father was dead. He covered his mouth with his hand in shock, and nausea didn't even cover the feeling that was sweeping through his system after reading it. He felt faint and dropped his books and leant back against the cold wall beside the writing as he realised what it meant, and he could feel his senses deteriorating as he wondered what might have written it there. Hermione was snapping her fingers in front of his eyes and asking him if he was all right, and she held him in her arms as he cried into her hair. Harry turned the corner with Ron and he was complaining that his scar was hurting before he made some debasing statement about the young lovers, and it was only when Hermione pointed angrily at the writing that Harry dropped his edge and realised why she was in his arms. Draco snapped back into reality when they heard the familiar sound of Snape walking towards the dungeons, and he picked up his books from the ground as their teacher turned the corner. Snape waved at the writing with his ebony wand, thinking it to be mere basic magic in a student's idea of a joke, and he was taken aback when he realised that he couldn't remove it. He told his students to ignore it as they entered the dungeon, and nothing could prepare Draco for the sight that lay before them all; Nagini hung from the ceiling with her skin torn open, and Draco noticed that one of her fangs were chipped from biting his arm. At Snape's desk hung another comment:

      "One student has the power to complete what they started, and another the ability to destroy it. Voldemort, Nagini and indeed so do the Death-Eaters: Rest In Pieces"

      Harry came to the realisation that the writing had formed when he had heard the miniature explosion, and Draco knew that his vivid dreams were somehow true on another plane of existence. The question was: who had written these messages?

That's all for this chapter, but for those of you who want to know what's going to happen, REVIEW! Many thanks to my unofficial beta-reader Lindsey, who has helped me with this so far, and no doubt will help again *or is that merely wishful thinking? * And thank you for the reviews girl, you lighten my day up!

Until the next (intriguing, to say the very least) chapter, take care all!

~TR~


	7. Companionship And Corpses!

                                                               Keep your friends close… 

      Snape ordered the students to get out of the dungeon as soon as he heard Draco rushing out in to the corridor, with Hermione hot on his heels. Draco's mouth was far drier than he had known it to be in the past, and he only stopped when he felt that he had sufficiently distanced himself from the classroom. He barely registered Hermione's worried statements, and was only brought back to reality when he heard their Potions teacher calling over to them to get back to their Houses for the remainder of the class, and they could both see fear evident on Snape's washed out expression. As the older man turned away from them, Draco went over to him and made a request to stay in Gryffindor Tower for some company seeing that there was nobody in Slytherin, and he had just received a shock to his system. Much to their surprise, he complied with their request due to the present circumstances, but he did add that he wanted to talk to Draco privately the following morning as he passed the permission slip. They walked to Gryffindor Tower in a subdued manner, and even though they were holding hands, neither of them passed any comment. Draco lifted the slip up to the portrait of the Fat Lady, and she hissed as she allowed them entry. The cheers that were erupting in the Common Room ceased as each head slowly turned to see who had entered, and angry whispers were flying around the room like a newly released Snitch. Draco felt angry at being the source of gossip and fury for petty conversations, but he wisely decided not to react as harshly as he had the power to, mainly because he didn't want Hermione to know that he was guilty of patricide, as well as murder. They sat in a quiet corner and waited for the others to go back to celebrating being dismissed from Potions first thing in the morning before saying anything in case someone was listening to them, and Draco whispered to her:

      "Do you get the impression they're happy that most students in Slytherin are without a father?"

      "Of course they aren't; they're glad to be missing class as well as Voldemort being dead, if what was written at Snape's desk is true"

      "Aren't you afraid?"  
      "Yes, I'm afraid of running into whoever did this. I get the feeling that it wasn't a prank set out by a student. Besides there's only one Thorassic snake left according to resources, and that was it. Are you feeling okay?"

      "No. Can you please tell Harry to leave us alone when he comes over to us?"

      "I can't even see him, where is he?"

      "Look behind me; he should be at the fire with Ron, Neville and that toad"

      "How could you tell?"

      "I just…sensed…he was there"

      "That's odd anyway. And he's getting up now, so I'll tell him to leave us in peace, okay?"

      "Thanks Hermione, I just don't feel like an argument right now"

      As she left to defer Harry's lecture, the portrait door swung open once more and Professor McGonagall entered in a sombre manner. She held up a piece of parchment and she was about to begin when she saw Draco in the corner, with Hermione sitting opposite to him again. She pursed her lips, but continued regardless:

      "Gryffindor students, and Mister Malfoy, It is with a heavy heart that I am to announce that as of now there is a curfew in immediate effect until the perpetrator of this offence is captured. If we are still unsuccessful after three days, then a severe action will be put into action; Veritaserum. If you are innocent and fear what will be asked, such as what rules you have broken lately; let me assure you that the only questions imposed will be revolving around the matter at hand, and not if you were the one to hide Professor Flitwick's books (she shot a meaningful look towards Seamus). That will be all, and remember that no student has permission to leave here as from now. Food will be brought up to you at the times you would normally eat at, and the portrait will be sealed with an anti-opening spell that can only be broken from the other side. Mister Malfoy, a word please"

      He avoided the stares that the furious Common Room full of Gryffindors were glaring towards him and proceeded with his head as high as he could muster. He handed her the permission slip to show he was there legally, but she didn't take it from his cold hands.

      "It's not that Mister Malfoy, Professor Snape has already informed me of your location, but I wished to consult you regarding the situation between yourself and Mister Potter. As far as everyone here is concerned, you are in Gryffindor Tower as a guest and one foot out of line will result in your isolation back in Slytherin. The other Slytherin Students have been told to stay away until Hogwarts has been declared safe again so if I were you, I would avoid getting into any trouble"

      "What if Potter starts something, and when I don't retaliate he blames me?"

      "Don't rise to it then Mister Malfoy, and should any fighting break out during your stay here, here's one word: Veritaserum"

      She left the Tower and Draco suddenly wished that he had asked Snape if Hermione could stay with him in Slytherin's Dungeon instead, seeing that this could be a very long three days, especially if he was put under the Veritaserum…

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      Snape was standing at the foot of Nagini with an expression that was a combination of both disgust and awe as he looked at the reptile's entrails; he had never believed that he would have the opportunity to see any Thorassic snake, never mind the final one in existence that had been faithful to Voldemort. The lettering had been made inaccessible until the Ministry of Magic arrived to check that there weren't any Unforgivable curses contained within it, and as far as Snape had heard, many of the more untrustworthy workers hadn't showed up for work, making it quite possible that the Death Eaters had been killed. Snape was still concerned for his sixth year student Draco Malfoy; he had been certain that he had changed the tattoo on his arm, and now that his father was dead he didn't seem as phased by the macabre fact as he should be. He knew Dark Art when he saw it, and he knew that an average student wouldn't be able to perform such an action without any form of assistance, and Snape was contemplating whether or not Voldemort himself had possessed the boy. Either way, it didn't add up—how could a simple sixth year student perform advanced magic that Snape couldn't even achieve, and why would an old foe change the Dark Mark instead of killing him?

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      Much later in that evening, Draco and Hermione sat together on a couch, after finally been given sufficient time to discuss what they had seen, even though it upset Draco greatly for not being able to disclose the truth with her. He wanted to pour his soul out to her, but he wasn't even certain how he could manage that since he didn't know the extent of it himself. He knew that he must look a wreck to Hermione as he kept running his fingers back through his sleek blond hair, and he was next to certain that there was more blood visible in his face than usual. When Professor McGonagall had brought up their evening food, Draco had handed her a slip of parchment for her to send to his family, seeing that he was unable to visit his own owl in the school's owlery. It didn't make the youth feel any better about the present dilemma he had caused, but within his heart he wanted to know if his father was still alive, or if he truly was a murderer. He knew he was zoning out on Hermione again, but he felt like he had the right to under present circumstances, and he didn't complain as she brought him out of his screwed up thoughts by kissing his cheek lightly. He apologised and responded by sliding her onto his lap as he kissed her back passionately, and his mind easily wandered to thoughts of some of his recent actions that didn't involve death. Their passionate kiss was abruptly ended by a Prefect walking over to them and telling them to behave more appropriately, and although they initially complied with her wishes, Hermione caused Draco to laugh for the first time in quite some time by doing an impression of the older girl once her back was turned to them. As soon as she had left the room, they resumed their actions without any regard to the people in the rooms around them; right now they were presented with a few minutes of freedom, and they were going to use it to the maximum as a form of venting anger and frustration. Draco sensed the Prefect approaching them again, so he advised Hermione to get off him before he was sent back to Slytherin without being able to see her until the miniature siege had ended, and she reluctantly agreed. She didn't understand the emotions that her ex-arch-nemesis evoked in her; there had been conflict between them for so many years that their relationship startled her. It was also highly unlike her to abandon her studies in favour of a personal situation other than bereavement, and the fact that she had even changed her beliefs almost overnight could become a source of concern for her. Never mind the fact that she had slept with him within a couple of days. He was somehow affecting more than just her heart, and she was enjoying it so much that she didn't actually care about her friends' feelings. They had both hurt her often enough in the past, so it was acting as a form of payback for her, not that she was experiencing any vindictive pleasure out of her relationship. The first bell to signify curfew was almost in action rang out in the castle shortly after their second warning, and Draco's eyes glinted excitedly when he whispered for her to return when her roommates were certainly asleep. The tone of his voice sent a shiver down along her backbone (it certainly didn't originate in fear or out of cold), and she kissed him before leaving his presence to retire for her room. The same Prefect returned moments before the second bell and she tossed a couple of rough blankets in his direction with a surly attitude (she reminded him very much so of a female Marcus Flint), and she warned him to behave himself, unless he wished to be reported to McGonagall for inappropriate behaviour as a guest from another House. The second bell rang at that time and the room plunged into darkness, leaving Draco free to manipulate the older girl into walking into a wall and falling down the stairs twice without her being able to prove it was he—how could she if he hadn't said anything and no light from the supposed spell had been visible?

      Hermione returned as surreptitiously as she could, yet Draco was aware of her movements from the time she had almost silently folded back the sheets on her bed before even setting one foot on the floorboards. He met her halfway across the floor, and he caught her by surprise when he slid his arms around her, and he was surprised by how thin the item of clothing she wore was. He covered her lips with his own as he led her over to the couch, and she took him off his guard by pushing him back onto the furniture in question before straddling his lap. Their actions were becoming more lustful as they remained in that position, and they only broke apart when they heard movement on the landing. Draco brushed a strand of hair past Hermione's ear and he whispered in a certain tone that gave her the same shiver as before:

      "Want to see a cool magic trick?"

      She whispered back that she did quietly, not wishing for their location to be discovered by whoever was out of bed, and she was shocked by the trick in question when he kissed her. They were transported back to his bed in Slytherin dungeon in a flash of blue light, and she sat away from him momentarily to check her surroundings before she asked him an obvious question:

      "How the hell did you do this? You know you can't Apparate in Hogwarts due to all of the security measurements they take"

      "I didn't Apparate"

      "What did you do then?"

      "That'd be telling. I honestly can't describe how I make it happen, but I just noticed it a couple of days ago"

      "Do you think I can do it?"

      Hardly likely, did Voldemort attack you? "It's always possible I suppose, and now we have some privacy until we decide to return"

      "Good"

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      Ron was astounded by the blue flash he had seen coming from the couch, and it had highlighted the two figures on it in undoubtedly compromising positions, and in the next moment they had disappeared from view altogether. He had never expected Hermione to act so _adult-like_ in his wildest dreams, and anticipation and worry burned through his angry system; if Draco had led her away from a sealed room, what was he intending to do to her, and how had he done it? Ron was utterly panicked by them not having returned after ten minutes, so he ran back into the room and woke Harry up to tell him about the danger Hermione was in. Harry reached for his glasses as Ron shook him vigorously, and he raced over to Hedwig's cage when he understood what his friend was hissing out, so as not to wake the others up. They knew that they needed to drop their voices even more so when Dean Thomas grunted in his sleep, and Harry hurriedly scribbled a note of warning to Dumbledore before attaching it to his owl's leg. They both got dressed properly whilst waiting for a reply, and Harry fretted about how he had been so stupid not to realise that Draco would try to do something to Hermione when they were in the same Tower, and the way he had mysteriously transported them to another area altogether made it look like he wanted to rape her without being interrupted. Harry glanced out of the adjacent window again, and he released a yell when he saw something, and his cry of horror woke up every Gryffindor, with the exception of Hermione…

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      Draco slipped into a dark sleep after 'entertaining' Hermione, and he felt bitterly cold in his dream, regardless of the fact that he was warm in his body, due to holding his girlfriend against his own skin. It took him a while to realise that he was back in the graveyard, and even though he had removed the evil beings that had inhabited it, it seemed far darker than before and he was having difficulty in finding his way forward. He stumbled over a few crumbling headstones before finding Voldemort's slumped body on the ground; he checked for a pulse and saw that it _was_ a corpse, which made him a murderer. He brought his thoughts back to the time when he had reflected the curse back, and he saw where his father had been in the previous dream before rushing over to where Lucius's corpse should be so he could pay his final respects. He uncovered the man's face to ensure that he had found the right person in the dark, and he knew at once that it was his father, even though the area was still plunged in an unnatural darkness. He ran his finger along the older man's jawbone and memories of some of the last things he had said echoed through Draco's head.

      "You're completely worthless"

      "If I were you I'd be ashamed for your actions. Was Seeker not high enough to meet your standards to play as it?"

      "You're disgracing the family line by mingling with that Mudblood"

      "You've always been a disappointment, and now you can't sink any lower. Proud?"

      "Hopeless"

      "I'm ashamed to be responsible for your life coming into being. You're a failure"

      Draco squeezed his eyes shut tightly to remove the angry thoughts rebounding inside his skull, and he sneered at the corpse:

      "Now who's the disappointment?"

      But unexpectedly, his hand shot out and seized Draco's forearm with a death-grip that he now literally had…


	8. Dread, Darkness And Draco's Devastating ...

                                                               Keep your friends close… 

      Draco shot forwards in his bed, and he felt a sharp burn course its way where his father's fingers had pressed onto his forearm in the graveyard, and anger replaced the emotion where fear should have been as it surged through his body at the mere memory of the horrific gesture. His eyes went a deep shade of red in their sockets, and this new source of energy easily eradicated his own protective 'blue' magic, and the action was unstoppable once it had reached into his bloodstream. Hermione shivered out of cold until she woke up, and she saw her lover sitting forward with his knees concealing his face from her view, and he was shuddering so violently that she didn't know what was happening to him—was he by chance epileptic? She ran her cool hand along his clammy exposed back and said his name a few times before he responded by breaking away from her in the bed to run out into the Common Room as he tried to remove the sickening grip that some unknown being held over him. Whereas Draco wasn't bothered by his nudity due to his present turmoil, Hermione clearly was self-conscious about her body and she slid her robes on quickly to make sure that Draco was the only Hogwart's student to see her naked. But what she saw didn't resemble the student that captured her heart in the slightest; in fact the sight of the figure before her made her feel isolated from the school and afraid for her life. He was squatting at the foot of the couch and he looked ready to sprint towards her, with a hunter's gaze in his now blood-red eyes, and she somehow knew that her wand wouldn't serve her any purpose now. The room was in total darkness with the exception of his eyes and the shimmering glow around his form, and Hermione whispered 'Lumos' quietly to try and relieve herself of the claustrophobic atmosphere. He temporarily killed the light in the room whilst he struggled with the foreign power in his body, and he choked out a "RUN!!!" as the parasitic being annihilated the last of his self-control with a miniature explosion that spread throughout the Castle. They were both extremely grateful as she took his advice since it was mere moments later that he charged at her ferociously and the light from her wand was destroyed. She didn't know where she could hide, and she saw no logic in her hoping that she could flee safely; Gryffindor Tower was sealed from the outside in lieu of the curfew as undoubtedly would the Slytherin dungeon…

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      Harry shook in disbelief and he released another scream of anguish at what had occurred outside his window, and the entire body of fellow Gryffindors woke up sharply when they heard the youth crying out. As surreal and horrific as it appeared, there was no option of disbelief for Harry Potter: right in front of his very eyes, as she had been flying back towards him, Hedwig had _blown up_ and her singeing feathers were floating in the air where she had been. Once the flames had disappeared, there was a choking darkness that cut everyone's vision; even by staring out of the window as intently as they could, neither Harry nor Ron could see a light from Hagrid's hut, or from the staff room either for that matter. They instinctively attempted to light up the room with their wands, but no matter how hard they tried, it looked as if every one of them were using one of Fred and George's fake wands, without the bonus of holding a strange creature after a failed spell. A clear voice called out for all Gryffindor students to assemble in the Common Room, which was harder than it sounded due to the almost noxious shadows concealing the steps that they required to use. Dumbledore stood before them (he was easily identifiable with his silvery-grey beard glistening in the dark), and he made a brief announcement before cautioning them about their best actions.

      "This attack on the castle appears to be originating from an internal source, so it has been decided that it will be safest if all students assemble swiftly and silently in the Great Hall. We have yet to identify the source of this unnatural darkness, and why all magic is presently failing to work for anyone. Follow Professor McGonagall and your Prefects towards the Great Hall, and I shall inform the rest of the students of this. This force is far greater than any of us can assume, so act as wisely as you possibly can, and don't forget to watch out for others as well as yourself"

      There was a stench of fear in the air in the Great Hall as members of the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Houses entered the room, filled with its panic-stricken body of students, and fear didn't go near describing the general emotion of the students when the Slytherin portrait was opened. A girl's shrill scream echoed out through the mainly empty hallways of the castle, and Harry felt even shakier when he realised that it was Hermione's voice. The sound of her repeated reverberating footsteps had an effect on Ron as if it were a nail being hammered into his spine violently, and he frantically searched his mind for a solution to his nightmare. The only light in the room was coming from the centre, where the ghosts had realised that by staying as near to each other as possible, their forms produced light that was similar in effect as a snatch of moonlight. Even those closest to the open doorway couldn't see her frightened form as she sped past them, but not one person failed to miss her pursuer; he showed up as no more than a crimson red blur, and he didn't even look human, never mind identifiable as a student.

      Hermione's heart pounded in her chest whilst her body fatigued, and her lungs felt like she could never inhale enough oxygen to soothe the unbearable ache they suffered from. Her shoulders had hit off many obstructions in the corridors she fled through, which also left her with a desire to give up to face whatever she needed to end her pain. She banged her forehead sharply against a wall that made her feel light-headed and strange, and she knew that she no longer had the choice of escaping as Draco closed in around her. The light being emitted from his lissom body illuminated her surroundings, and she quickly learned that she was in the grand Entrance Hall, with no escape route available to her. She couldn't see even a faint resemblance between the _creature_ that stood before her with the boy she had readily given her heart to, and he was succeeding in frightening her to the point of her not being able to move even an inch away from him. Her vision was blurred enough as it was without not being able to see any point of his body at all, due to the glow that was now cutting through her from its sharp contrast with the otherwise pitch black world. He summoned her next to his body by moving slightly, and she felt unnaturally hot against his body, but even at this proximity she could hardly see his face through the blinding sheet of light. Every bit of her body that had ever made contact with him suddenly erupted in a searing sense of pain, including the areas where they had become intimate with one-another, and she heard an aberrant voice coming from him, making a rasping remark at how weak the Muggle-born was. The heat subsided with a positive effect; her stamina sources had been refilled and her injuries were no longer even remotely tender to her. He sharply drew her into a harsh kiss whilst his glow had somehow disappeared momentarily, and he left her with something else in her system when he drew back from her with his malevolent form once more. He blinked once and she was propelled into far wall behind them, but she didn't slump to the ground; she remained on the stone as if she were manacled there, and this action horrified the students in the Great Hall, who now had clear vision of everything that was happening in the main foyer. Peeves recalled how he had stopped people in the past by charging through them, and he decided that this tactic of nausea might work on stopping this unknown being if he was successful in an ambush from behind. He swooped away from the other ghosts and a wave of new panic swept over the students as the room went fractionally dimmer, and he silently aimed for Draco's back as he approached Hermione again with pitiless intent. He stopped in his tracks as Peeves swept through him like a sheet of ice, but it was neither successful or a failure; the glow dimmed from his body, Hermione slid to the ground and the Castle managed to lighten perfunctorily as the struggle between the two forces combated.

      "That…that's DRACO MALFOY!"

      "I'll kill you Malfoy, if it's the last thing I do"

      "What's he doing this for?"

      "HERMIONE!!!"

      "He's naked!"

      "What's happening???"

      The last comment was made in response to Peeves thrashing about to get away from the youth, but it came to no real avail; Draco released another bout of raw energy away from him and something unimaginable happened: Peeves screeched out in anguish before being torn into shreds and littered about the room, and when the remnants of his spectral skin touched the ground, they _melted_…


	9. Frantic Fights, Frights And Finished!

                                                               Keep your friends close… 

      The chilling silence was only broken when a scream erupted from the midst of the students, which naturally caused another panic attack to engulf the student population. The various professors of the school were now terrified since they were unable to guarantee the safety of the students, and the fact that Draco Malfoy couldn't be slowed down by the ghosts made the situation look far more serious than originally conceived. Not one wand seemed to have any power at all, and not one person had any solution to the horrific situation they were facing. Draco smirked to himself as he neared Hermione; his idea to act like a ventriloquist and form a scream in the crowd had succeeded in removing the immediate attention away from him. She looked up at him fearfully, and he made a mental note that she resembled a hunted rabbit perfectly as he crouched beside her and watched her shiver in trepidation at his presence. His lithe form was reflected in her soft hazel eyes and if he could view it without the sinuous essence inside him, it was doubtful that he would recognise his appearance. He ran his hand slightly over her body and her breath rushed out of her body from an unseen force, and with a snap of his fingers she shot up and became rigid in her stance against her will. He squeezed her hips sharply and suddenly the whole castle was engulfed in total darkness as the young couple teleported out of the hall to an unknown destination. The body of students screamed and Hermione's two closest friends felt paralysed with an alarming fear for her safety.

      Hermione felt herself being forced backwards onto the grass of their new destination, and the pain inside her became far more intense as he leant over her and hissed out an eerie command in her ear that she couldn't decipher. She felt her own blood pour out of her legs as the ground shuddered violently and she heard screams of anguish and malevolence rushing across the 'night' sky (she wasn't sure if it should have been dawn by this stage, and she failed to detect anything in the sky through the choking blackness). She couldn't see where Draco was, he appeared to have destroyed his unnatural glow, but she could hear voices swirling around her head repeatedly, making her feel like she was going insane from the shrill screams right next to her ears. She struggled to her feet as the vibrations continued in the ground, but she was forced backwards against a column when she regained a degree of balance, and she heard a low growl over the cries from unseen persons.

      "Stay"

      She obeyed, although she wasn't actually locked in that position this time, and suddenly she felt nauseous as a strip of the darkness lifted and she could see her lover at the far end of a cloister. Swarming around his body were humans in various stages of decomposition and she suddenly came to an appalling conclusion: _he had resurrected them from beneath Hogwarts' grounds!_ She didn't know what to feel other than panic, but she quickly drew out of her thoughts when she felt her hand being twisted around to face her, and a small purple spark was growing at the tip of her wand. The cloud spun around her a few times until it hovered in front of her eyes and revealed the words 'Fight now or die trying' before vanishing in a blinding flash, literally. She knew that he was still in front of her, and that he had lifted some of the heavy black, but now she couldn't see anything and the screams had turned to a dull throb in her head. She cursed to herself, thinking that if she were to be down a sense, she'd need her other senses sharper to raise her odds, not reduced, as they were to form a handicap. She muttered 'Lumos' and although she heard it spark into action, she couldn't even see the slightest trace of the light that it would have created. She felt him call out a command for her to step forwards and accept his challenge instead of hearing it, and she cried out that she couldn't see where to go. Something propelled Hermione forwards from behind and her body formed the ceremonial activities that traditionally commences duelling, and she felt something entering her body momentarily that threw her off her guard altogether. When the vile feeling had disappeared, she noticed that she had regained a fractional portion of her vision, and she didn't think it too important that her vision was still blurry—at least she could see. She noticed Draco aiming for her and she touched her neck just before it made contact with her, and she wasn't sure why she did it. As it turned out, the kink at her elbow absorbed the spell and deadened her arm, instead of her jugular vein and if the spell had hit it, she would have certainly died. She feebly sent an advanced spell in his direction, but all he did was outstretch his arm and pointed at the beam of orange light to split it into two shots and it took its effect on two nearby benches. She hazily heard a cry to her left but she knew that it would be dangerous to her health if she looked towards it, and a flash of bright white light cut through the darkness in a small circle where the cry had originated. She could barely make out Draco's form, and even that was surrounded by a glow so she couldn't see his expression, and if she had, she would have seen that his face was as blank as a puppet's, yet he somehow showed terror in his motionless face. Another beam of light headed in her direction and she dove to the side of the ground to avoid its awesome blast. She felt the ground shudder again, and she returned to her original position when the ground crumbled beneath her nearly numb form, and she slipped on her blood as she stabilised herself. She somehow knew that if she dodged a blast it would reduce her fighting capability, which was limited enough as it was in her opinion, and she suddenly felt spectral words echoing in her head; the difference was that it seemed to be assisting her this time instead of handicapping her. The words were too muffled to comprehend, so she just sent another charm at Draco (who easily avoided it) whilst she concentrated on the ghostly whispers in her ear. Without warning, she suddenly knew what it was she had to do, and why she needed to do it, even though the outcome of the spell could swing in either direction since it was an ancient and forgotten magic that was required to perform it…

                                *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

      Harry was frantic with worry as he struggled to see any trace of where Hermione had disappeared to from where she'd stood against her will, and he was close to screaming out in anger, frustration and worry all at once. He struck a fist outwards and ignored the sharp pain that wisped its way up his arm from the collision, and then he heard a cry from a student that lightened the burden that the situation exerted on his shoulders.

      "Look! Over there, I can see something in the distance"

      Everyone crowded around the door like they had been transported there with a rush of adrenaline, and both Ron and Harry drew their breaths back quickly by the sight that greeted their eyes. After a void of unnatural darkness, there was a shimmering radiance a few hundred feet away from them, and there were many sparks flying around in the area in question, yet it was still impossible to make out what was happening. Professors Dumbledore and Snape's voices were easily detectable over the roars of the frightened crowd, and another familiar, yet previously unheard voice appeared. It was that of Cornelius Fudge, and a certain note of urgency was detectable in his rushed, yet lowered style of speaking. Ron could only decipher a few key words out of the heated conversation, though it was evident that they were discussing what the best course of action for them to take would be, and what punishment would be inflicted on the powerful youth. Even in the thick of his rage for his best female friend, he released a shudder at some of the suggestions for Malfoy's life; in his opinion, not even Voldemort deserved any of those treatments, and that was really saying something. The cry that had distracted Hermione's attention was now heard by professors and students alike, and the flash of light was so surreal that it seemed more like a mirage than what it actually was. A scream was released at the battle as the grounds were flooded with an iridescent golden shine, and then the whole castle fell silent for the glow to dissipate to allow them the chance to see what had happened.

      Her long hair lashed wildly at her frightened face at what she had done, and she screamed out as her spell collided with the boy she loved. She closed her eyes and momentarily drifted back to the split second she had shot it towards him, and she felt guilty, knowing what the low probability of his survival was. She felt compelled to keep her eyes closed when she drew herself out of her reverie, and she instantly locked her eyes on Draco's form involuntarily. She gained no personal gratification as she watched him writhe like a metal snake controlled by some unseen magnet, and her horror worsened when she saw the natural expressions on his face. The creatures he summoned to help him were now interweaving through his body, each experience of it more detestable and gruesome for him than the last. His smooth skin was diminishing as he became further exposed to the decomposing flesh of the demonic essences, and with an explosion, the gold light reacted like an atomic bomb, and the humans at the far end of the battleground braced themselves for the oncoming death as they were consumed by the impact of the mushroom-shaped cloud. It never came. 

      A fraction of a second later, there was no trace of the gold, or the darkness for that matter, which startled everyone present. The only sign of movement was Hermione rushing over to Draco, who was still naked and slumped on the ground from where he had evidently teleported them to, and from the position he lay in it looked like his neck was broken. Tears splashed from her eyes onto his taut skin, and she begged for him to look at her as his body continued to decompose at a steady pace. He opened his eyes before immediately squeezing them tightly shut to try and remove the blurred line from his vision, and he knew that it would be permanently unsuccessful when his eyesight was equally appalling when he reopened his weary eyes. He tried to move and apologise to her, but to his horror he discovered that she had left him completely paralysed from his lower ribs down, as his abdomen had been affected the greatest by Hermione's spell. He croaked out his apology as he realised that his hearing was fading just as quickly as his vision, and that his last images would be of the girl a force had tried to make him murder. He felt Hermione kissing as his life force ebbed away from him, but when he reopened his eyes, he felt a burn in his forearm cause him to seize up, and when he looked up, he saw Lucius standing above him and Draco released a scream of anguish, followed by 'NO! NOT YOU!!' He protected his head from his father as Mister Malfoy swung out to hit him across the top of his skull with his fist, and Hermione was perplexed why her lover was acting like this to her. He screamed out again as his cranium made a sickening crack (again Hermione didn't know how he'd made that noise as she couldn't see Lucius), and his head rolled limply at his neck before the demonic creatures attacked him at once and his body vanished completely. She shrieked out for him to return with fruitless results as Cornelius Fudge approached her from behind, mentioning that she deserved an Order of Merlin, First Class for her actions. A single white owl flew across the grass and landed on Pansy's forearm before returning to its owner, Harry Potter, and Pansy gushed with delight when she saw she could talk again. A flash of light behind them went unnoticed asWarlock Gornby de Ferrière returned to his own time in Marseilles, 1605 to write about what he had witnessed, knowing for certain that if he planted it in the correct way, the powerful being of the future would annihilate Lord Voldemort before destroying himself. He had travelled to the future on more than one occasion and had detested what he had witnessed when the Dark Lord was at the height of his power. But what he didn't realise was that there was another formidable essence to contend with. That night, when Hermione Granger, Mudblood to some in spite of being awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class went to the Prefect's bathroom, she smiled placidly to herself at her reflection. Her kiss with Draco had transferred his power to hers, and her dark brown eyes showed that there was something within herself that was a part of him, and she felt it growing inside her. When the time was correct, she would complete what her deceased lover had started…

                                     *~*~*~*~*~*~THE END~*~*~*~*~*~*

      *Sighs and leans back in chair* I'm finally finished this meaningless garble! For anyone who was wondering, Hedwig returned to her normal condition from the effect of the golden glow, as did anybody affected by Draco's power, with the exception of Nagini and the Death-Eaters. Since you've let me down in the past by not reviewing *glares at guilty hit-and-run writers who failed to review after reading* I would greatly appreciate your thoughts on this, and who knows, I may consider a sequel. The reason for the delay with the final installation is not due to me being a slow writer, I'm actually the opposite, but instead it's due to me being in hospital for over two weeks after a near-fatal incident where I nearly died from blood loss. So make a pathetic, weak teenager happy by reviewing!

*~Maddie~*


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